BUENOS AIRES – Wrestling had good reason to enter Sunday's vote on its Olympic future with great confidence. The past seven months, the international and U.S. governing bodies mobilized an impressive and pricey campaign to save its sport from a crippling outcome.

The international governing body (FILA), spent almost $3 million on its campaign the last seven months, FILA vice president Stan Dziedzic told USA TODAY Sports. About $8 million total was spent by FILA, the U.S. and other federations on the effort, he said.

In contrast, the other sports in the running had budgets that were substantially smaller. Squash spent less than $1 million and baseball/softball at least $1 million, according to officials with both groups.

The high price of doing Olympic business was a futile effort for baseball/softball and squash, after they were thrown the unexpected curve ball of competing against a sport rooted in the first modern Games in 1896. Wrestling at least got something for its money. It transformed itself and emerged stronger.

"We viewed it not just as a cost to get back in the program but as an investment in the future of wrestling, so I think whatever we've done will pay benefits going forward. From that perspective, it's funds well spent," said Jim Scherr, a former Olympic wrestler who was the U.S. Olympic Committee CEO until 2009.

FILA elected a new president, included more women in decision-making roles and adopted rule changes to make the sport easier to understand, exactly what the IOC had asked it to do.

"The rule changes have made it more exciting to watch," said Canadian Olympic champion Daniel Igali, who was part of the IOC presentation. He noted that scoring has been doubled, competitors who wrestle offensively are now rewarded more, leading to fewer clinches.

For several months, wrestling execs attended every event an IOC member might be at. On his way to Argentina, FIFA president Nenad Lalovic stopped at the United Nations, then dropped in on the judo world championships in Rio de Janeiro. Dziedzic said Lalovic will have amassed 220,000 air miles by the end of the year.

The group developed relationships with influential members such as Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al Sabah of Kuwait, the president of the Association of National Olympic Committees. It also helped that Scherr was a key member of the wrestling group, given his standing as a former USOC chief. But the star of the show was its charismatic president who never met a stranger he didn't want to bear hug.

"He embodied the skill set needed, the diplomatic and the instincts," said Dziedzic, a former U.S. Olympic wrestler. The chain-smoking Serb mended fences and built relationships.

FILA also brought in heavy hitters from the outside, including Teneo Consulting, which bills itself as "integrated counsel for a borderless world." USA Wrestling contracted Ketchum, a New York-based public relations firm.

U.S. leaders formed the Committee to Preserve Olympic Wrestling, which fought to save its sport at the grassroots level, through a relentless social media campaign and by staging grand events. In May, the group held "The Rumble on the Rails" at New York's Grand Central Terminal. The competition featured unlikely political bedfellows – the USA, Russia and Iran – united by a common cause.

Dziedzic described the nucleus of wrestling from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. The IOC is a European-centric body and wrestling doesn't have a stronghold in many European countries, but the wrestling delegation wasn't especially worried. Baseball/softball was in the same position, given its base is in Asia, the U.S. and Latin America.

Wrestling also enlisted Hollywood to help, including actors such as Mark Ruffalo and MMA stars. Actor Billy Baldwin raised about $150,000 for the sport's well-orchestrated campaign through an Ebay auction that included items such as walk-on role on Boardwalk Empire plus a meet and greet with actor Steve Buscemi and a training session with Randy "The Natural" Couture.

The passion of its athletes and supporters carried the movement. After decades of inertia, the sport showed a staggering ability to change and in the end saved itself.